Alaska's governor on Thursday certified Sen. Lisa Murkowski's re-election in November as a write-in candidate, clearing the way for Murkowski to be sworn in on time for the new congressional session that starts next week.

The kickoff of a new year -- and, for that matter, a new decade -- is a good time to look down the road and make a pact with ourselves about the kind of people we want to be and what we're willing to do to get there. These aren't just goals, but resolutions.

Haley Barbour, the Mississippi governor mulling a 2012 Republican presidential run, will issue the early release of two sisters serving life sentences in his state for armed robbery. So was his move politically motivated?

Every day before 8 a.m. Hawaiian time, President Barack Obama gets an extensive briefing about all of the national security threats that have been bubbling around the world overnight while he's been vacationing.

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by conservative Tea Party favorite Joe Miller that challenged his loss in Alaska's election for a Senate seat, clearing the way for state officials to certify Lisa Murkowski's historic write-in victory.

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

A federal judge on Tuesday dismissed a lawsuit by Republican Joe Miller and lifted a stay on certification of Alaska's U.S. Senate election, clearing the way for Sen. Lisa Murkowski to officially be declared the winner.

Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour, a possible Republican presidential candidate, recently caused a major stir. In an interview with the Weekly Standard, he referred to race relations while growing up in Mississippi this way: "I just don't remember it as being that bad."

Arnold Schwarzenegger landed in the governor's office after announcing his upstart bid on late night TV and railing against government spending during raucous campaign rallies — at one playing a spirited round of air guitar to the rock anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It."

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Despite President Barack Obama's signing of a law repealing the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates sent a memo to troops warning them that it remains in effect until 60 days after the government certifies that the military is ready for implementation.

President Barack Obama celebrated a bipartisan "season of progress" on Wednesday at a year-end news conference marking an up-and-down second year in office that blended a thrashing at the polls, slow progress on the economy and late victories in Congress.

A federal judge Tuesday ordered the U.S. government to pay more than $2.5 million in attorney fees and damages after he concluded investigators wiretapped the phones of a suspected terrorist organization without a warrant.

A health care bill meant to provide free medical treatment to those suffering from the health effects of working in and near ground zero following the 2001 attacks may come up for a Senate vote on Wednesday.

Tuesday, December 21, 2010

Gays and lesbians will be treated just like any other soldiers, sailors, airmen or marines, the new rules say. But commanders will have some flexibility when they believe it's needed to maintain order and discipline in their units.

A group of 9/11 first responders joined lawmakers in Washington on Tuesday to urge the Senate passage of a health care bill meant to provide free medical treatment to those suffering from the health effects of working in ground-zero conditions following the 2001 attacks.

President Barack Obama lobbied senators by phone Monday to back an arms treaty with Russia that he's called a national security imperative, as a top Senate Democrat conceded "house by house combat" would be needed to win enough GOP votes to prevail.

While President Barack Obama this week is expected to clear the way for gays to serve openly in the military, the new law won't go into effect immediately and unanswered questions remain: How soon will the new policy be implemented, will it be accepted by the troops and could it hamper the military in Afghanistan and Iraq?

President Barack Obama lobbied senators by phone Monday to back an arms treaty with Russia that he's called a national security imperative, as a top Senate Democrat conceded "house by house combat" would be needed to win enough GOP votes to prevail.

On Friday, December 17, my partner, Lynne Kennedy, accompanied by about 20 family members and close friends and our minister, Kate Walker from the Mount Vernon Unitarian Church, piled into a stretch limousine and drove to Washington to the Albert Einstein Memorial to get married. It was a small but wonderful opportunity for us to publicly and officially declare our love and lifelong support for each other.

Rushing to finish by Christmas, congressional Democrats worked Friday to secure Senate ratification of a new arms control treaty and to end the military's ban on openly gay service members as they neared the end of two tumultuous years of single-party government.

A massive tax package that would save millions of Americans thousands of dollars in higher taxes is headed for a vote in the House Thursday even as rebellious Democrats complain it is too generous to the wealthy.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

For the second time this year the House voted to dismantle the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy, giving the Senate a final shot in the waning days of this Congress at changing a law requiring thousands of uniformed gays to hide their sexual identity.

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to overturn the ban on openly gay and lesbian soldiers serving in the U.S. military, passing legislation repealing the controversial "don't ask, don't tell" policy.

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Rahm Emanuel, who left a powerful job with President Barack Obama at the White House to move back to Chicago and run for mayor, endured hours of questioning on Tuesday from everyone from attorneys to a woman named Queen Sister — all intent on keeping his name off the ballot.

President Barack Obama is set to huddle behind closed doors with his national security team Tuesday to review the administration's policy toward Afghanistan and Pakistan -- one day after the unexpected death of his diplomatic point man for the region.

A State Department official warns against making too much of Ambassador Richard Holbrooke's widely-reported sentiment to stop the war in Afghanistan that he uttered just before going in to surgery last week.

It's very likely that you will see a lot in the news about Republicans' opposition to the individual mandate and their challenge of the constitutionality of health care reform in the next few weeks. The individual mandate is the Obama health care reform law's requirement -- ruled unconstitutional by a judge Monday -- that all Americans obtain insurance.

Politics is serious business -- but not all of the time. From the halls of Congress to the campaign trail to the international stage, there's always something that gets a laugh or a second glance. Here are some of the things you might have missed:

Monday, December 13, 2010

Embattled Republican Party chairman Michael Steele announced Monday that he will seek a second term despite a rocky two years marked by allegations of financial mismanagement and frequent verbal gaffes.

Richard C. Holbrooke, the high-octane diplomat who spearheaded the end of the Bosnian war and most recently served as the Obama administration's point man in the volatile Afghan-Pakistani war zone, has died, officials said.

U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke, the architect of the 1995 pact that ended the war in Bosnia, died Monday in a Washington hospital where he was being treated for a tear in his aorta, a senior administration official told CNN.

U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke is "absolutely fighting in an unbelievable way," a State Department official told CNN on Monday, two days after surgery to repair a tear in Holbrooke's aorta, the main artery of the body.

Somewhere in Texas, former President George W. Bush must be smiling. When President Obama and the Republican leadership reached a deal on extending all of the Bush tax cuts, including a generous exemption for estate taxes, the current president ratified a key policy from the former administration.

Veteran diplomat Richard Holbrooke, who is a U.S. special envoy on the Afghanistan war, was in critical condition after undergoing more than 20 hours of surgery to fix a tear in the large artery that moves blood from the heart.

U.S. diplomat Richard Holbrooke remains critically ill at George Washington University Hospital after undergoing surgery to repair a tear in his aorta, senior White House adviser David Axelrod said Sunday.

Friday, December 10, 2010

Failing to repeal the law prohibiting openly gay and lesbian people from serving in the military leaves the services vulnerable to the possibility the courts will order an immediate and likely chaotic end to the policy, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Friday.

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty will spend two days each in Iowa and New Hampshire during an upcoming tour to promote his forthcoming book, according to details put out Friday by his political action committee.

Thursday, December 9, 2010

The Senate on Thursday rejected a Democratic bid to open debate on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy banning openly gay and lesbian soldiers from military service, possibly killing any chance for it to get passed in the current congressional session.

Republicans weighing a White House bid fiercely oppose a new nuclear arms treaty with Russia and stand in stark contrast to two presidents, Democrat Barack Obama and Republican George H.W. Bush, on a critical foreign policy issue.

Wednesday, December 8, 2010

The House passed legislation Wednesday to give hundreds of thousands of foreign-born youngsters brought to the country illegally a shot at legal status, a fleeting victory for an effort that appears doomed in the Senate.

Senate Democrats indicated they would hold a make-or-break vote Wednesday on starting debate on repealing the "don't ask, don't tell" policy that bars openly gay and lesbian soldiers from the military.

The fight to repeal Don't Ask Don't Tell is getting a bit nasty between the Senate offices of Majority Leader Harry Reid, Joe Lieberman and Republican Susan Collins, all of whom support ending the ban.

On Election Day, the American people rejected reckless spending, runaway debt and the record growth of government. They also rejected years of establishment arrogance -- found in both parties -- that for too long has ignored their will.

The Obama administration and Congressional Democrats will hold a Wednesday news conference to push for passage of a bill that would grant eligibility for citizenship for thousands of young illegal immigrants if they go to college or serve in the military.

"If 'don't ask, don't tell' is repealed and you are assigned to bathroom facilities (that have)] an open bay shower that someone you believe to be a gay or lesbian service member also used, which are you most likely to do?" -- Question on 2010 Department of Defense Comprehensive Review Survey of Uniformed Active Duty and Reserve Service Members*

Defense Secretary Robert Gates, a supporter of repeal of the military’s Don’t Ask Don’t Tell policy, said Monday that he is “not particularly optimistic” that Congress will act on legislation before the end of the year to repeal the ban on gays and lesbians serving openly.

Leaders in Washington appear close to a deal that would temporarily extend all the Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the highest earners. What does the apparent compromise reveal about the president and the Democrats?

The political pressure on the administration to tackle deficit reduction is mounting. Even before he began negotiations with Republicans last week, President Obama conceded ground by announcing a federal pay freeze.

Friday, December 3, 2010

The wife of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said on Friday that a recent telephone call to Anita Hill, the woman at the center of a 1991 furor at Thomas' confirmation hearing, was probably a mistake.

President Barack Obama granted the first pardons of his administration Friday, erasing the records of nine people convicted over the past 50 years for a range of crimes ranging from drug possession to conspiracy to defraud.

Politics is serious business, but not all of the time. From the halls of Congress to the campaign trail to the international stage, there's always something that gets a laugh or a second glance. Here are some of the things you might have missed:

Christine O'Donnell has lost an election, but gained a book deal. The Delaware Republican and Tea Party favorite plans to offer her take on the campaign and her "frustrations" with the political process.

Directly challenging the Pentagon's top leadership, Arizona Republican Sen. John McCain on Thursday snubbed a military study on gays as flawed and said letting gays serve openly would be dangerous in a time of war.

As topics go, reducing the national debt, revamping the tax system, and reforming entitlements are awfully dry. So how contentious, emotional and divisive would you expect a national discussion of these items to be?

Wednesday, December 1, 2010

President Barack Obama rallied support for a stalled nuclear treaty from former Secretary of State Colin Powell Wednesday, as both men warned of grave consequences if the U.S.Senate fails to ratify the agreement with Russia.

A tough new cost-cutting playbook submitted by the co-chairmen of President Barack Obama's deficit commission has been embraced by Sens. Kent Conrad and Judd Gregg, the first two elected officials to endorse it.